Honu blinked slowly, the ceiling above him swimming in and out of focus. His head throbbed faintly as he rubbed his eyes and stretched, bones popping like distant firecrackers.
"…Was that a dream?" His voice rasped in the quiet.
He sat up, staring blankly at his small bedroom. The air felt stale, sunlight leaking through the blinds in thin, pale ribbons. His sheets were twisted around his legs, the scent of detergent and faint sweat still clinging to them.
He pressed a hand over his stomach. No wound. No blood. Just soft skin and the faint ache of hunger. "Weird-ass dream," he muttered, yawning wide enough to pop his jaw.
His room wasn't big—barely enough space for a bed, a small desk cluttered with notebooks, and an old poster of a band he'd long since stopped listening to. Still, it was home.
Dragging himself out of bed, he trudged toward the stairs. Each step creaked like it was complaining.
The house was quiet. Too quiet. The morning sunlight hung over the furniture like a thin film, and the air had that faint heaviness that comes before rain.
He stood in the middle of the living room, frowning. "Ma?"
No answer.
He was just about to call again when she appeared from behind the couch, already lighting a cigarette, her robe loose around her shoulders. "Good morning, sleeping beauty. You're late for school again."
Honu blinked. "You scared the hell out of me."
"You scare yourself just fine." She smirked and blew a lazy cloud of smoke.
He groaned and shuffled past her, heading to the kitchen. The linoleum was cold under his bare feet. He yanked the fridge open, poured himself milk, then checked the pot simmering on the stove. The smell of stew filled the air—earthy, peppery, familiar.
For a second, everything felt normal. Comfortably boring.
Then—arms.
Warm. Wrong. From behind.
Honu stiffened as slender arms wrapped around his chest, and fingers brushed lower, way too low. "Yow! What the—HEY!" he shouted as a hand grabbed him where no hand should ever go. His balls.
He spun around to punch whoever it was—his fist met air.
A chorus of giggling erupted behind him. High-pitched. Warped. The sound of laughter, but not human laughter.
Women's figures flickered in and out of sight—half-there, like reflections on shattered glass. Their eyes were hollow, mouths stretched into smiles that didn't move right.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Honu screamed at the top of his lungs—pure, primal panic.
Then—silence.
The kitchen was gone. The light. The smell. The floor. Everything vanished in an instant.
Honu blinked. He was floating. Weightless.
"What the—what the hell is happening?!" His voice echoed into the dark, bouncing off nothing. The world around him was pitch-black, endless, and cold. His heart hammered against his ribs as he turned slowly, trying to find… anything.
Then, a flash of white light burst behind him.
He squinted, shielding his face. "Gah—my eyes! Seriously?!"
When he looked again, a massive screen hovered in front of him, pulsing faintly like a living thing. On it, simple words glowed in bright, cheerful text:
"Hello :)"
Honu stared at it, his mouth hanging open. "…Oh, hell nah."
He pointed accusingly at the glowing text. "I don't want any part of this! I've seen enough of these setups! This is where you throw me into a random world with missions, right? Second life? Quests? Some weird-ass god playing games with souls? Nope! Nope! Not me!"
He jabbed his finger toward the screen, but it went straight through like smoke.
The screen flickered, typing by itself.
'Chill, dude. I thought you wanted some fun?'
"Not this kind of fun!" Honu shouted, gesturing wildly. "I'm dumb, broke, and below average! I don't survive isekais—I die in the tutorial!"
'lol.'
The word blinked on the screen, mocking him.
Honu groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Unbelievable." He tried to swim away—literally swim through the air—but no matter how far he flailed, the glowing screen floated right back in front of him like an overly attached girlfriend.
'You can pick genres you want.'
His eyes brightened. "Wait… I can?"
'Yup.'
Honu grinned, then froze. "Still no."
'I know your trauma.'
He went still, his face deadpan. "…You're bullying me."
The screen flickered like it was laughing.
'What you'll be experiencing is not just a story. It's not fiction. It's real. You'll enter a world between dimensions.'
"Yeah, hard pass."
'Let me finish, man.'
"Fine," Honu sighed, crossing his arms like a sulky kid.
'Some dimensions are stagnant—frozen in overlapping timelines. We need "Catalysts" to bring motion, to restart time. That's you. You'll be reborn there, live there, make change happen. Basically, second life.'
"…Still not impressed," Honu said flatly.
'You'll have a system. Like those stories where the loser suddenly becomes the most powerful badass ever. You really don't want that?'
He hesitated. Then his grin crept back. "Okay!"
He pressed the glowing "YES" button before it even finished blinking.
'…You're a simpleton.'
"Yep."
The system sighed—or at least, the text gave off that vibe.
'Anyway, limited genres only. No smutt.'
"WHAT?!" Honu groaned dramatically, clutching his chest like a wounded soldier.
'Stop whining and pick.'
"Fine, fine." He rubbed his palms together. "Romance then."
'Loading romance database…'
Three glowing boxes appeared, each labeled with a title.
Honu squinted, reading them aloud. "Pop My Cherry… Taste My Lightning Saber… Yen and Lily." He frowned. "Pop my cherry? What the actual—"
'Stop being dirty-minded. "Cherry" means happiness. It's a tragic love story. The cherry popped. Like—poof! Whole world gone. Spoiler alert.'
Honu stared. "You weren't supposed to tell me that, were you?"
'Oops.'
He facepalmed. "Okay, tragic world off the list. I'm not emotionally stable enough for that."
'Pick wisely. Once you enter a world, you're reborn near the protagonists—or someone important. You'll act as a side character, shaping fate. Refuse, and… eh, you'll just live a boring, miserable life. No system. No powers. No fun. Just taxes.'
"…" Honu scratched his head. "Alright. Pop My Cherry's a no. Taste My Lightning Saber sounds like some weird sword anime, so maybe. But…" He squinted at the third title. "Yen and Lily. That one sounds… normal?"
'You sure?'
"Yeah. Let's get this over with."
'You sure-sure?'
"…Why are you asking twice?"
'No reason.'
"…It's the hardest one, isn't it?"
'No.'
"Then why—"
'Initiating dimension.'
"Wait, WAIT, HOLD ON—" Honu's words dissolved into the rising roar of wind as the void beneath him opened. The light from the screen intensified until it swallowed everything.
He flailed as he was pulled into the blinding whirlpool, screaming, "I CHANGED MY MIND, DAMN IT!"
The last thing he saw before darkness swallowed him was one final, flickering line across the screen:
'Good luck, Catalyst Honu.'
And then—
Silence.
A weightless fall through nothing.
Then, somewhere far away, a robotic voice whispered, "Welcome."